“While clockwork automatons are rare, they are not unknown in Aeternum. Golems are complex creatures of iron, gears, steam and magic. Some are crude with heavy lumbering bodies and others are finely crafted and sculpted works of art. While building a golem requires a skilled craftsman, it takes powerful and outlawed magic to give the automaton even a simple level of consciousness. Only a few mages specialize in such magic and their services can come at incredibly high prices.

Many of the citizens of Aeternum, and all of its leaders, fear the very notion of creating a golem, and their apprehension is well justified. Long ago the powerful Rhun district used their vast wealth to build an army of golems..."